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Jogger made eye contact with shooting suspect as man drove by

By {screen_name}
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Former Mesa State College kicker Richie Hahn was jogging in the area of Chestnut Drive and 26 1/2 Road Saturday morning when he heard gunshots down Chestnut — then he had quick, successive encounters with one of the victims and the shooter himself.

Hahn, 37, turned toward the gunfire, he said Monday, because he was worried for his wife’s cousin,
who lives on the street.

“I was maybe 50 yards down Chestnut when I heard Dr. Gallagher come screaming down in his BMW,” Hahn said.

As Hahn was telling the deputy what he knew, a dark green sport-utility he believed was a Toyota RAV 4 approached and slowed down.

“We made eye contact,” Hahn said. “I’m thinking he wanted to say something, but then he saw the sheriff.”

There’s no doubt, he said, that the man he saw was Stefan Alexander Martin-Urban.

“I’m convinced that if not for that sheriff that I flagged down, I think he would have shot me like he shot Paco” Larson, Hahn said, referring to a Chestnut Drive resident believed to have been shot by Martin-Urban.

Larson was treated at St. Mary’s Hospital and released.

“Paco’s a real hero in this,” Hahn said. “I want to see this neighborhood continue to act together. We shouldn’t let this guy close our doors.”